Bitten Release
by starsword
Summary: A hunter appears on Stonehaven estate and Clay and Elena are sent to take care of him. Things don't run smoothly and a girl gets in the way. Will she learn to accept her new life or push everyone away? Can she forgive the person who bit her? ON HOLD
1. Bitten

_A/N: Hello, this is fic number god knows what, but it is my first Kelley Armstrong one. Unfortunately I'm still only half way through Stolen so if anything is really wrong just tell me and I'll try and read faster and correct it. Please be a little lenient though, because this is an AU fic, set after Stolen. This is going to alternate between Elena's POV, possible into another character's POV, and third person narrative as I'm not that keen on writing in 1__st__ person. Don't ask why, I don't really know. Well, wish me luck!_

**Chapter 1 – Bitten**

I lay there in Clay's arms, resting my head on his chest. It was times like these that I really loved; just lying there together, not saying anything, and knowing that we were okay. At least for now. Until Clay opened his big mouth that is. At the moment his arm was wrapped around me protectively, his hand resting on my waist tracing small circles with his first finger on my bare skin. I sighed and felt Clay's arm tighten around me. I closed my eyes, smiling slightly as I felt sleep start to creep up on me. Just then someone knocked on the door. Clay growled in annoyance.

'Clayton, Elena, get up,' a deep voice called from outside. We both sat up.

'What's wrong?' Clay asked, somehow he'd managed to sit up without removing his arm from around my waist.

'We've got someone on the estate and I need you two to check it out,' Jeremy said through the door, 'Now get up, Clayton, I think it's a hunter. I need to stay here in case anyone comes up to the house.'

'Alright, Jer, we're coming,' I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Partly to tease Clay, and partly because I felt like it.

'Don't act. If you can, scare him off but I'd prefer it if you just do surveillance for now,' and with that he walked down the corridor.

It took longer than expected to get out of the bedroom. We were going to Change and do surveillance as wolves, so we didn't need to get dressed, therefore there were more distractions than if we had been dressed. Eventually though, we found suitable places to Change. I stretched out, as I always did after a Change, and breathed in the many scents surrounding me. I heard Clay growling in the bushes, waiting for me to come out of my hiding spot. I padded out of my hiding place and nuzzled him in greeting; he spent a few minutes rubbing up against me before I managed to push him in the general direction Jeremy had given us of the hunter's position. Sometimes we really needed to learn when we had to get a job done without a lot of touchy feely involved. Not that I was complaining or anything, but I really did want to get back to the house ASAP. Would I tell Clay that? Not on your life. His ego's big enough thank you very much.

I picked up the hunter's scent not long after we set off. The only thing was there were two people and not one. This complicated things slightly. While one person was easy enough to spook, two were not so easy. Separating them would be our best option, but it was also the trickiest seeing as we'd have to be out of each other's sight whilst dealing with people with guns. We slowed as we neared the pair of humans and started to walk silently through the undergrowth, careful not to make a sound. The sound of flesh on flesh was the first thing that told us we were within sight of the humans, the second was the slight cry and thud of a body hitting the ground, and the sound of a girl's whimper. What the hell was going on? We crawled forward on our bellies and stuck our noses out through the bushes to get a better look at the two people. One was a man, tall and well built, with short brown hair and a hard face; under his arm was a 12.boar shot gun, at the moment it was loaded and the barrel pointed at a girl no older than 16 who was on the floor, one hand to her face. The reek of fear coming off her made me whine slightly; Clay push a reassuring muzzle at the base of my neck before turning his attention back to the scene in front of us. Auburn hair covered most of her face and, even from here, I could see she was little more than skin and bones. Next to me Clay growled, I turned to look at him and saw the gleam in his eyes. I knew exactly what that meant, though I wasn't sure how Jeremy was going to take this. We were going to have to drive them off, or at least get him away from the girl. If he killed her on Stonehaven estate and people came looking for her it would draw unwanted attention to us. I heard the sound of a gun being cocked and snapped my head round to see the gun barrel now aimed at us. We leapt to the side just in time, I heard the bullet go whizzing past us into the undergrowth. Great, now we had to get a gun wielding, girl beating maniac off the estate. Times like these I really wish we could just shoot them with our own guns. One problem there; werewolves wont use guns. I crept around the clearing and then flattened myself against the ground. Here was the plan: wait until I could see where Clay was and then try and get the message to him that we had to either kill the guy or get the hell back to the house and see what Jeremy wanted to do. I heard a noise behind me and saw Clay crawling up next to me. One look at him and I knew exactly what we were doing. The guy had to die, it was too dangerous to keep him alive and get back to Jeremy. I swung my head to look at the other side of the clearing, trying to get across to him to go to the other side. When all he did was cock his head to one side in question I resisted the urge to do a very human thing and roll my eyes. Unfortunately it's a slight impossibility as a wolf. In the end I settled for grabbing the back of his neck in my teeth and pressing him down to the ground, telling him to stay where he was, and then started to crawl to the other side of the clearing.

By the time I reached the other side of the clearing the gun had been reloaded and was being swung around the outside of the clearing as he tried to find a target. As the gun swung round to a few metres left of where I was hiding Clay pounced from his hiding place, leaping straight at the hunter's back. I swear my heart stopped beating as he swung around and raised the gun; I was halfway out of the bushes, not entirely sure what I was going to do, when the gun went off. It was only when Clay landed a few steps in front of me and I had to dive to the side to stop from crashing into him I fully registered what had happened. The girl had dived from the ground and managed to push the gun out of the way, the man had followed and Clay had gone soaring over the top of them. It was then I saw the girl go flying onto her back and land with a sickening thud on the ground, groaning in pain; I leapt at the man as he reached for the gun that had landed a few feet from him. Knocking the gun away with my hind leg I faced him, snarling and felt a slight satisfaction at the fear that came off of him. I swear if Clay hadn't of been there I would be six feet under by now. I hadn't noticed the smaller gun he had in his hand, though in my defence he'd partly hidden it behind him; Clay's jaws clamped down on his wrist. A loud crunch told me all I needed to know and I sprang at him, jaws clamping down on the arm he threw up to protect himself. We both back off and he climbed to his feet; as we circled him he watched us, I must admit it was a bit disconcerting him being as calm as he was. Don't get me wrong, you could smell the fear coming off him as clearly as if he'd pissed his pants. It was just the outward appearance of calm that was starting to unsettle me.

We continued like this for a few minutes, and then Clay leapt at him again. I was facing the guy's back so I couldn't really see Clay, what I could hear and smell was the yelp of pain and the blood that came from him. He landed awkwardly and I saw the knife sticking out of the top of his leg; growling I leapt at the guy's back. I really couldn't cope with honour when the guy had just stabbed my boyfriend/bane of my existence; if anyone was going to have the satisfaction of killing Clay it was me, goddamn it, not some hunter. Seriously though, I was pissed that he'd stabbed Clay and that we hadn't noticed the knife. Who the hell was this guy anyway? As I clamped down on his arm- again- and heard a gasp of pain from, what was unmistakably, a girl's throat. I let go quicker than I thought possible and rolled off the girl and back onto my feet; then the horror set in as I realised what had happened. He'd pulled out another knife and was going to stab me with it; the girl had, again, intervened and the knife was stuck in her thigh. If this wasn't bad enough, I'd bitten her. I spun round as a footfall sounded behind me. The man was standing above me, a small pistol pointed at the back of my skull. Where the hell was this guy getting his weapons from? Before he could react, Clay had his jaws wrapped around the back of his neck and had clamped down. A sickening crunch told me his neck was broken and I turned my attention back to the girl on the ground. Not caring I was in the middle of a clearing and that there could be more people around I settled down and hurriedly Changed back. She needed help I couldn't give her as a wolf.

It took a surprisingly short amount of time for both of us to Change; as Clay Changed in the bushes nearby I shredded the girl's jumper, using the pieces of material to try and stop the blood flow. At least some of Jeremy's first aid had rubbed off on me; but we needed to get her back to the house. As Clay knelt down beside me I saw the knife sticking out of his shoulder blade. I reached to pull it out but he grabbed my hand to stop me.

'We need to get back to the house,' he told me; I nodded, still too overwhelmed to speak. I'd bitten her and now the same thing was happening to her as I'd seen happen to Bauer in the compound. Except this time it was completely my fault. I'd been a wolf and I'd bitten her. I'd done to her what Clay had done to me all those years ago.

'Elena? Come on!' I heard Clay talking to me but it wasn't penetrating my brain. I just couldn't process everything; my brain was trying to catch up with the time that had passed.

'Elena! Will you bloody well snap out of it we need to get her to Jeremy or she'd going to die!'

That got my attention. I looked into Clay's eyes and swallowed.

'I'll carry her,' I said, voice quiet; Clay opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it, probably because we'd wasted enough time already just sitting here. Okay I'd wasted enough time just sitting here. We stood up, the girl safely cradled in my arms, and then set off at a full run towards the house.

_A/N: Hey, what did you think? Good? Bad? Terrible? I must admit I found it more difficult than I thought to write this chapter, mainly because it's the chapters after this I've got planned out. I only knew roughly what happened in this chapter so it was a bit of a battle to write it, especially when the muses start putting scenes from later chapters into your head while you're trying to write it._

_Please R&R I do love reading the reviews and changing anything to make it more enjoyable for you to read. Next chapter should be up soon._

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


	2. The Cage

**Chapter 2 – The Cage**

We crashed through the door and I called for Jeremy. Scrap that I screamed for him so loud my throat hurt. I fell to my knees and cradled the girl's head as Clay closed the door behind me and yelled for Jeremy again. The poor guy must have thought the house was about to collapse around him. A hand gently squeezed my on and I looked don into a pair of emerald green eyes.

'You… save… me,' I was just about able to make out.

'We're trying, I promise we're doing all we can,' I said; she opened her mouth to say something else but I cut her off.

'Save you're energy, we can talk later,' I told her gently, hoping she wouldn't hate me even more for saying that. I heard the sound of pounding feet and felt relief course through me. I looked up as Jeremy threw open a door and ran into the hall. I saw him take in the scene and then, in typical Jeremy fashion, he came forward.

'We need to get her to the cage,' he said, lifting her into his own arms, 'And you to need to get washed and dressed. Clay, I'll have a look at your shoulder in a minute and you can both tell me what happened while I'm dressing it.'

With that he disappeared down the stairs to the basement. One thing I've always admired in Jeremy is his ability to stay calm in almost any situation. Including having a bitten girl bleeding to death on his hall floor. Clay put his hands under my arms and lifted me to my feet.

'Come on darling, we best do as he says, there's nothing we can do now. She'll be fine, you were,' he told me, rubbing my back soothingly. Surprisingly enough reminding me of the torture I went through when I'd first been bitten did nothing to help calm me.

'Really not helping,' I told him, walking up the stairs to my room and closing the door behind me. I knew Clay had followed me up but I really didn't want anyone with me at the moment, so I closed the door in his face. Hoping he'd take the hint. The sound of a door closing on the opposite side of the corridor told he had. For now at least.

Jeremy nudged the door closed behind him and opened the door to the cage. Luckily they left a mattress in the basement just in case the cage was occupied for longer than a few hours. Once he'd put the girl down he dragged the mattress into the cage and placed her on top of it.

'Clayton! I need my first aid kit! It's in the kitchen!' Jeremy called up the stairs. He heard feet pounding on the floor above him and, in a record three minutes later, Clay appeared with the first aid kit in his hands.

'You'd better stay so I can look at that knife wound,' Jeremy told him, eyeing the knife still protruding from his shoulder. Clay shrugged, and then grimaced as he moved the blade inside his shoulder.

'Just sit down, Clayton,' he sighed, Clay grinned slightly and obeyed, taking a seat on one of the chairs in the basement. Jeremy turned back to the girl lying inside the cage, after a few moments he spoke again.

'Find Elena and tell her to bring me a bowl of warm water and a cloth, I need to clean these cuts and there's no point in you carrying it. You'll either drop it or damage your shoulder even more. Clay nodded and stood up to do as his Alpha asked, pushing the door closed behind him. Turning to look around the basement Jeremy located the restraints and loosely tied them to the bars of the cage and the girl's limbs so she wouldn't hurt herself during the time her body tried to cope with its transformation. The door opened again and Clay and Elena entered again, Elena carrying a bowl of warm water and Clay carrying an armful of cloths.

We walked down the stairs, me trying not to spill any of the water we'd filled the bowl with, and yet trying to hurry so I could get out of there. I didn't want her to see me any more than she had to; she must hate me for doing this to her. I wonder if Jeremy's told her what's happening yet? How long had I been bitten before he told me? I couldn't remember; I'd blocked out most of my memories from around that time for a reason and the only time I'd tried to dig them back up was when I had to help Bauer when she'd injected herself with my saliva. I put the bowl on the table by the stairs and then turned to go.

'Stay here, Elena,' Jeremy said from inside the cage, where he was working to tie the restraints to the girl's body. 'I think it would be better for you to get her out of these clothes, mainly so she can have some modesty when she wakes up.'

I stared at him for a few seconds.

'Me?' I asked. Jeremy sighed.

'I don't see any other women here, Elena, you'll have to do it,' he told me, tone firm; I nodded, not wanting to argue too much in the knowledge that it would do her no good. I stepped into the cage and Jeremy stepped away from the small, frail body. I lifted her torso and rested her back against my front as I worked to take off her shirt. When I did I had to swallow back the bile that rose in my throat.

'Oh my god…'

I turned to look at Jeremy and then shifted her body so he could see what I could. All across her back was a patchwork of scars, healing cuts, and bruises that extended to her arms. I saw Jeremy's eyes go so hard for a moment I was scared, I heard Clay growl softly behind him. At a glance from Jeremy I removed the rest of her clothes, the sick feeling in my stomach increasing as the scars continued down her legs as well. It was obvious how little she'd had to eat by the way her bones stuck out everywhere; her chest was rising and falling in short, painful gasps. I wrapped the blanket around her and then stood up and backed away.

'Shall I get her some baggier clothes?' I asked; Jeremy nodded and I slipped from the room, glad to be away from the painful sight in front of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually this squeamish, but it just struck a little too close to home for my liking.

When I returned to the basement with a pair of sweatpants and a jumper Jeremy was finishing dressing the knife wound the girl had received to her thigh. When he was finished he walked out of the cage and locked the door; then he turned to us.

'You need to tell me exactly what happened,' he said, motioning for us both to sit down. When we had Jeremy set about tending to the knife wound to Clay's shoulder as I told him what had happened once we picked up the man's scent. He was silent throughout the whole thing; Clay let me tell the story for once, without interruption. When I'd finished I waited for Jeremy to say something, anything that might give me some hope that I wasn't about to be banished like Clay had been when he'd bitten me.

'You'd both better get some rest, I'll stay down here in case she wakes up,' he said. I blinked, not fully registering what he'd said.

'What?' I asked.

'I said you'd both better go and get some rest,' Jeremy said, looking at me in concern.

'Yeah… but…' I couldn't believe it, and yet I really wanted to. Understanding shone in his eyes.

'It was an accident, Elena, you couldn't have stopped what happened. Now go upstairs and get some sleep,' he said, his voice left no room for argument; it bordered on a direct command. So I followed Clay up the stairs and into his room; glad that he didn't say anything as I closed the door behind me. After a few moments of silence he spoke.

'You okay, darling?' he asked, walking up to me and wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. I shook my head.

'I bit her,' I said, voice quiet.

'It was an accident, like Jeremy said,' he told me, 'She'll be fine, darling, Jeremy'll make sure she's fine.'

I sighed and rested my head on his chest; after a few minutes we moved towards the bed. Clay knew exactly what I needed, and for that I was thankful, we lay on the bed, Clay running a soothing hand up and down my back as he pulled the covers over us.

'Go to sleep, Elena, you need to rest,' he said; for once I didn't argue, just closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep.

Jeremy sat motionless in the chair, watching the girl sleep in the cage, waiting for the first signs of her starting to fit. An hour passed and nothing happened, his eyes took in everything; the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed steadily, the slight muscle movements that would tell him when he had to dive in to restrain her so she wouldn't hurt herself. He settled back in the chair and waited, watching like a silent guardian for the time when he was needed; just as he had when Clay had bitten Elena.

_A/N: So what do you think? Good? Bad? Please review I do like to see what everyone thinks of the story; I can't make it better if you don't tell me how. Thank you to spyder for my review. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the other one!_

_Thank you to everyone whose reading this._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	3. Trusting?

**Chapter 3 – Trusting?**

Three days passed and nothing changed in the cage; the girl was still unconscious and hadn't yet shown any signs of having a fit. If anything Jeremy seemed slightly worried at this, and that made me worried. Finally something happened on the third day of her being bitten that I doubt we will ever forget.

8 8 8 8 8 8

A quiet groan emitted from the figure in the cage; Jeremy sat up and watched as she turned her head. Two emerald green eyes slowly opened and looked around the room; when her gaze landed on Jeremy fear, pure fear, clouded her eyes and she tried to move away from him.

'I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I'll be good just… I won't do it again… I…' she sobbed quietly, covering her head with her arms.

'Please… don't hurt me… I'll be good… I won't do it again… I promise… just don't beat me… please…'

'No one's going to hurt you,' Jeremy said softly, 'What's your name?'

The girl slowly looked up, the silence stretched out between them.

'My name's Jeremy Danvers, you're at Stonehaven. You were bitten,' he said, watching her to see how she took what he was saying.

'Where is he?' she asked; Jeremy frowned.

'Who?' he asked. She flinched, inching back from him into the bars of the cage. Comprehension struck him.

'The man you were with?' she nodded, 'He's dead. I'm sorry.'

'I'm not,' she replied; that startled him. Silence stretched out between them again.

'Are you hungry?' he asked her, she didn't reply; Jeremy sighed, he decided to leave the subject of werewolves alone for now, seeing as she was terrified of him.

'Why have you locked me up?' she asked.

'So you won't hurt yourself,' he replied.

'I told you I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I swear. I'll do whatever you want just please don't beat me… I can't… I'm sorry…' she sobbed.

Jeremy stood up and walked around the outside of the cage to where she was lying; she tried to crawl away but was too weak to move. He knelt down and looked her straight in the eye.

'I promise you, no one is going to hurt you while you're down here,' he told her, 'I won't stand for anyone beating anyone here; if they do they answer to me.' After a few moments of silence he asked, 'Are you hungry?'

She nodded slowly, Jeremy stood up, 'I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll find you something to eat.'

Fear returned to her eyes, suddenly her body tensed; Jeremy quickly knelt back down as her face contorted in agony.

'Stay calm,' he told her, voice soothing, 'Just look at me, focus on me and nothing else.'

She turned pain clouded green eyes to him as she curled up into a ball with the pain. Thinking back over the past few minutes Jeremy was surprised she hadn't started to Change before this.

'Look at me, focus on me and nothing else. Push back the pain, push back the fear and concentrate,' he told her; slowly the pain in her eyes faded and she gasped for breath.

'What happened?' she asked, Jeremy stood up.

'I'll explain while you're eating. Just stay as calm as you can while I'm gone; I'll be back soon,' he told her, he walked up the stairs and closed the door softly behind him.

8 8 8 8 8 8

I was sat at the kitchen table staring into a cup of coffee when Jeremy came in; I looked up at him, an unspoken question in my eyes.

'She's awake,' he told me, walking to the counter and starting to fill a plate with bread, cheese, cold meats, and fruit.

'Let me help,' I said, standing up and helping him pile the plate with food.

'How is she?' I asked after a few moments of silence. Jeremy sighed.

'She's terrified. She almost Changed from the fear but I was able to help her stop before it got too far,' he answered.

'Have you-'

'I haven't told her anything, Elena, except my name, where she is, and that she was bitten. She didn't ask anything about the bitten comment, all she asked was why she was in the cage and what had happened to the man she was with,' he answered; I took a deep breath and then asked the question that had been in the back of mind ever since we got back.

'How did she take it?' I asked him, mentally preparing myself for the answer. Jeremy didn't answer my question until he was stood in the doorway with the plate and a glass of water in his hands. He paused for a few moments.

'She said she wasn't sorry he was dead,' he told me, before walking to the door to the basement, opening it and walking down, the door swinging shut behind him. Well that wasn't the answer I was expecting; and judging by the way Jeremy had said it, it wasn't the one he was expecting either.

8 8 8 8 8 8

Jeremy opened the door to the cage and placed the plate and water down in front of her. Her eyes bulged and she shook her head, covering herself with her arms as she did.

'I can't… I'm sorry… I can't eat all this… please…'

'Eat as much as you can,' Jeremy told her; cutting her off before she started begging him not to hurt her again. It made him angry that anyone could scare a young girl so much that she was terrified someone would beat her if she did something they didn't like. Normal kids were scared of being yelled at for leaving food, this one was scared of a beating.

'While you're eating I better explain what has happened,' Jeremy said, waiting until she had reached for a slice of bread before starting to speak. 'You were bitten by the only other female werewolf in the world; it was accidental, you probably know more about the actual bite than I do, but she and Clayton managed to get you back here. You're body's cells are being turned into those of a werewolf, when the transformation is complete you'll be a werewolf like the rest of us here at Stonehaven.'

Jeremy continued to explain what it would mean to be a werewolf, explaining the need to Change and what could happen if she didn't; he explained how the Pack operated, and about the mutts. When he'd finished, she'd eaten three slices of bread and two slices of meat. The rest had been left. For a few minutes they looked at ach other before Jeremy stood up and backed out of the cage, locking the door behind him.

'Don't leave me,' she said, her voice quiet. Jeremy turned back to look at her.

'I'm not going to; I'm going to sit in the chair. Eat some more, you'll need it,' he told her; she curled up under the blanket, her knuckles white as she gripped it tightly.

'Don't leave me alone… please,' she said; Jeremy shook his head.

'I won't, not without telling you,' he promised.

'I don't want to be alone in the dark. When it's dark and I'm alone he comes… I don't want him to come' she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. Jeremy walked to kneel next to her; he put his hand through the bars and wiped the tear away.

'He can't get you here. He's gone,' he told her. She shook her head.

'He's still here. In here,' she pointed to her head, 'In my nightmares.'

'I won't leave you alone,' Jeremy repeated; her hand shot out and grabbed hold of his own. He sat back and made himself more comfortable as her grip tightened.

'What's your name?' Jeremy asked again. Green eyes opened once more and looked at him; there was less fear there now than there had been earlier. A small, grim smile pulled at her lips.

'Tala,' she replied, after a moment she added, 'Kind of ironic really.'

An upturn at the corner of his mouth was the responding smile she got, 'Go to sleep, Tala, I'll watch over you.'

'Thank you,' she whispered; closing her eyes. After a while her breathing became more regular and her grip loosened, but Jeremy didn't pull his hand away. He'd made progress today, not a lot but enough to convince him that, given time, he could win her trust and start to piece together her past. And why she had been beaten so many times.

_A/N: I know it's shorter than most of my other chapters but I wanted it to end here. Thanks to Spyder and __Texknight1234567 for your reviews; I'm not bringing in Nick and Antonio for a while, there is a method in the madness I promise. If this is reminding you of another fan fic it's not intentional; the only Kelley Armstrong fics I've read are two one shots so I had no idea this sounded like another fic. I had recently noticed the title was similar to another one and so I've changed it, just incase people thought I was stealing other people's ideas. There should be a little more action and conflicts coming up in the next few chapters now that I've introduced the story line and got it going a bit I know where I want to go._

_Please R&R, now I've got a few more reviews I've actually altered a few bits of the story I've planned out so I can make it fit for you guys. Thank you again to my reviewers!_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	4. Progress

**Chapter 4 – Progress**

Jeremy kept a constant vigil in the basement beside the cage; he only ever left to go to the bathroom or to collect food. Soon though, I was able to guess when he wanted food or water and took it down to him; he didn't say anything but I knew he was grateful. Every time I went down there Tala was unconscious and so I never actually got to talk to her again since we'd spoken in the hall the day I'd bitten her. I was grateful for it, and I was also slightly saddened by the fact that I still hadn't spoken to her. Clay hadn't either, he'd hardly been down here but I kept being drawn down by the girl. There was an urge I had to know more about what had happened to her to give her the scars that covered her body.

I found myself once again in the basement, but this time I didn't really have an excuse for being down there. I felt more of a connection with this girl than I had with Bauer. That might have something to do with the fact that I hadn't been forced to watch her inject herself with my saliva and that I hadn't bitten her on purpose. Jeremy turned to look at me as I walked down the stairs.

'How is she?' I asked him; Jeremy looked over at the motionless figure in the cage.

'The same as she has been for the past three days. Unconscious,' he replied. I nodded; an awkward silence filled the basement.

'Sit down, Elena,' Jeremy said, I did as she said, sitting down on one of the other chairs in the basement.

'You want to talk to her, tell her you're sorry for doing this to her,' he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I nodded anyway. Jeremy nodded; he seemed to be thinking so I remained silent.

'When she trusts me a little more you can come down and talk to her,' he told me; I nodded again. Just then a scream came from the cage. We both leapt to our feet and I heard Clay upstairs running towards the stairs. Jeremy threw the door of the cage open and ran to her side, pinning her in place as she started to thrash around, pulling the restraints taut. I stood, frozen for a few seconds, until the sound of Clay throwing the door open above us shook me from my shock and pushed me into action. I ran into the cage and knelt down beside Jeremy, holding Tala's head as her body thrashed in front of me. Clay appeared at Jeremy's other side and pinned her legs down. After a few minutes the fit subsided and the three of us relaxed.

An hour later I was sat outside, looking out over the Stonehaven estate; I was so wrapped up in my thoughts about Tala I didn't notice my cell was ringing until the call ended and whoever it was called again. I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked at the caller ID and got a bit of a shock.

'Jaime?'

'Hey Elena, everyone okay?' the necromancer asked. She interpreted my silence correctly.

'What's happened?' she asked. I knew I shouldn't really discuss Pack business with anyone outside the Pack, but as soon as Jaime asked me what had happened I just needed to talk to someone about it. But for once I needed to do it face to face.

'Hey Jaime, can I see you at some point?' I asked her; there was a short silence.

'Of course, where do you want to meet?'

I thought for a moment and then told her a cafe in town we could have a drink at.

'Okay I'll be there tomorrow. Elena, as much as I'm looking forward to seeing you what's wrong? This is the first time you've asked me to come all the way out there for a chat. I'm not stupid, Elena, what's wrong?'

'I'll tell you tomorrow, Jaime,' I replied, 'Is there anything you called for?'

'Actually I wanted to know if you all wanted to meet up at some point in the near future,' Jaime replied with a note of humour, 'Seems you had the same idea.'

I wandered back into the house about an hour later, making a plate of food to take down to Jeremy for Tala. As far as I knew nothing more had happened since I'd last left the basement and I'd seen nothing of either Clay or Jeremy since coming outside. I poured two glasses of water and, picking up both glasses and the plate, I walked down to the basement.

Jeremy settled back into the chair after Clay and Elena left the basement, keeping his eyes on the motionless girl in the cage; he was surprised this was the first fit she'd had; most bitten werewolves would have had at least three by now. After about half an hour later Tala started to stir and Jeremy sat up on the edge of the chair, watching her as her eyes blinked open.

'What happened?' she asked, he noticed how she backed away to the back of the cage as she asked it, still not entirely comfortable with anyone else being in the room. Even if there was a cage between them.

'You had a fit,' Jeremy explained, 'Your body's cells are changing into that of a werewolf's now so the likelihood of you having another one soon is great.'

There was no answer from the girl in the cage, she just looked at the floor, pulling the blanket tighter around her like a safety net.

'Have they come after me?' she asked; Jeremy frowned.

'Who?' he asked.

'The others. Have they come to take me away?'

'No one's reported you missing,' Jeremy told her, 'Elena's been keeping an eye out just in case.'

The girls face seemed to light up for the first time, a small smile forming on her face.

'They haven't reported me missing?' she asked, hope in her voice. He nodded.

'Who are these people you're talking about?' he asked; Tala seemed to shrink into her blanket.

'The ones at the house... I don't really know who they were but they were all like him, they all hated me... treated me as if I was scum. I was just a servant to them... cooking, cleaning... anything they wanted... just anything to get them to leave me alone for a while,' she paused for a while before adding, in a quiet, scared voice, 'I don't want to go back there.'

Jeremy shook his head, 'You're a werewolf now,' he told her, 'That means you're either one of the Pack or one of the Mutts but you won't have to go back there if you don't want to. You have the strength to get away now.'

She nodded, 'Do I have to leave here?'

Jeremy was surprised at the question, 'What do you mean?'

'Do I have to leave here? Stonehaven?' she asked again. Jeremy looked at her for a few seconds and shook his head.

'You never have to leave here if you don't want to,' he told her, 'If you join the Pack Stonehaven will always be a home for you to come back to.'

Tala smiled and nodded, 'When am I allowed out of here?'

Jeremy studied her for a minute or so, 'Do you want to join the Pack?'

Tala paused, seeming to think about her answer before nodding, 'I'm free of them now, I want to have a real home.'

Jeremy nodded, 'You'll probably have to come back down here tonight and possibly tomorrow night, but as long as one of us is with you at all times there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to wander around the house.'

Tala smiled brilliantly at him and then looked down at the blanket that currently covered her body, 'Could I have some clothes to wear?' she asked.

Jeremy smiled, 'There's some in the corner,' he pointed to the clothes Elena had brought down the day before, 'But I wouldn't keep too much of your modesty for long. You'll find that everyone who comes to Stonehaven ends up wandering around naked after they've transformed back into a human from wolf form. You lose your clothes when you transform and we usually end up a long way from where we left them.'

_A/N: Heya, sorry it's taken me a while to update but everything seems to be up in the air at the moment and I'm not sure what happening, in stories or in my life! I promise I'll TRY and get some updates done, this story is starting to come back to me now, after it's vacation... I can't make promises as to regular updates but in about 2 months or so all my exams will be over so I should be able to get updates on most of my stories done. I was looking through my PC and I found this chapter, decided it was long enough, added this note and updated. I don't know how long it's been sitting there though... sorry looks ashamed please review?? hopeful expression even though I don't deserve it..._

_Starsword_


	5. The Learning Begins

**Chapter 5 – The Learning Begins**

The door opened as I had just managed to balance the plate on the two glasses and reached out to open it.

'Well that saved a bit of hassle,' I commented dryly; then I noticed the girl just behind Jeremy.

'Tala, this is Elena Michaels,' Jeremy said, moving aside so the red headed girl could move further up the stairs to come through the doorway. She smiled shyly at me.

'Hungry?' I asked, offering her the plate I'd been about to take down. If I'm honest it probably wasn't the best thing to say, but in my defence it was the first thing that came to mind, and I was kind of nervous about talking to her. Tala's smile grew slightly.

'Starving,' she replied.

'Let's go into the kitchen,' Jeremy suggested; Tala offered to take the plate and I handed it to her; Jeremy sent me a look as we turned to walk to the kitchen that told me she was doing a lot better than he had expected. I led Tala to the kitchen table and sat her down while I made a plate of food for Jeremy and myself; Clay could get his own when he reappeared from wherever he'd disappeared to.

'How are you feeling?' I asked Tala while I was putting food on plates; she was eating the food on the plate slowly which had me slightly worried. Werewolf appetite meant I would have been half way through the plate by now, she'd hardly touched the food.

'Tired, and a bit weak,' she replied, 'And my arm's a little sore.'

I felt a twinge of guilt, 'I'm sorry,' I muttered. I noticed Jeremy watching our exchange from his chair, but he didn't say anything. Tala looked up at me, slightly startled.

'Please, don't be sorry,' she told me; I turned to her, frowning in confusion.

'Don't be sorry? I could have killed you! You were lucky you didn't lose a lot of blood, and even luckier to have survived the transformation.'

Tala looked down at her plate, using a piece of bread to push some of the food around.

'Anything's better than where I was,' she muttered; I looked at Jeremy in shock. Did she really mean she would have preferred to die rather than go back to where she had been before? Jeremy sent me a look to stay quiet before he turned to her.

'What do you mean?' he asked her.

'The...the man I was... I was with,' she said, obviously finding it hard to tell us what it was she wanted to say, 'He is... he _was_... he was my father.'

That was a bombshell and a half. I opened my mouth to say something but Jeremy silenced me with a look.

'I lived with him and my Uncle... in a... in a house just on the edge of town. We... there were some other men there... I'm not sure who they were... if they were any relation to me or just... just his friends. They... they were in a... a type of club I suppose... they... they looked up stories in the newspapers about... about mythical creatures... things that normal people wouldn't... they believe are from horror movies or something. But they... they seemed to know they were real... they just wanted to destroy them all. I hated it... being there. They treated me like a servant... like a slave... if I didn't do something quickly enough or well enough they- well mainly my father would- he'd beat me... I was like a sideshow for them as well as a servant...'

Tala trailed off, seemingly trying to sort out the mixed up thoughts in her mind. I just felt numb. How could anyone do that to a child? To their _own_ child? Judging from the amount of marks on her body I'd say this had been happening all her live. I couldn't tell what Jeremy was thinking, I never could, but the way his shoulders were slightly more tensed than normal gave me a slight indication that his thoughts were along the same path as mine.

'We'd just moved into the house a... about four months ago,' Tala continued, I saw Clay standing in the doorway and knew he'd been listening to the whole thing, Tala hadn't yet noticed him and I sent him a look to stay where he was.

'They seemed to think there was something... or someone here that they could... they could destroy. I think one of the men knew someone who is- _was_, researching supernatural people. My father made me come with him this time, I... I think he was going to try and use me as a distraction or something... we came here, to Stonehaven and that's when I started to try and escape. He didn't... he wasn't going to let me go without a fight... but then you turned up...' she trailed off, seemingly having run out of things to say.

The numbness was slowly being replaced by anger, disbelief, and pity for the frail looking thing sat next to our Alpha; I noticed my hands were shaking and clenched them in an attempt to hide it, hoping I wasn't making her nervous. When Tala looked up there was gratitude in her eyes. I'll never forget the next thing she said to me.

'You saved me,' she said, voice almost cracking, 'No matter how much danger you put me in you still saved me from what was a living hell...'

'_You… save… me.__'_

'_We're trying, I promise we're doing all we can.'_

She hadn't been asking me to save her that day; she'd been telling me I already had. I'm not normally an openly affectionate person with a lot of people, but I knelt down beside Tala's chair and brought the girl into a hug. She tensed up in my arms at first, but after a few seconds relaxed; I didn't hold her tightly, just putting enough pressure on her to let her know I was here, and I felt her shoulders start to shake. I looked at the two men in the kitchen and they both seemed to be at a loss at what to do; none of us were particularly exceptional on the emotional front. Look at me and Clay for god's sake!

Just then the phone started to ring; Jeremy stood up to answer it and Clay walked over to us.

'You'll be safe here, darling,' he said, I smile at him gratefully. Even after all this time he managed to surprise me.

'Trust me it takes a lot to get rid of Clay,' I told her as she pulled back, 'Believe me I've tried.'

A grin was my reward for the joke.

'What can I say? I'm-'

'Annoying?'

Tala started to giggle at our banter, and I returned the smile. I heard Jeremy in the hallway answer the phone.

'Hello? Hello Jaime.'

Crap, Jaime! I'd completely forgotten about meeting her. What time was it? I checked the clock and then breathed a sigh of relief; I wasn't late. So then why was she calling? Realising the poor girl was probably going to embarrass herself if she had to talk to Jeremy much longer I excused myself from the kitchen and went to take the phone from him. I waved Jeremy back in the direction of the kitchen, and he looked at me with an amused expression before walking off.

'Sorry Jaime,' I said; I heard a groan on the other end and couldn't help but grin.

'I think I made a prat of myself,' she moaned.

'I'm sure you didn't manage it in less than three minutes.'

'Believe me, I really think I did.'

'So considering I haven't missed our meeting, why are you calling?' I asked, leaning against the wall, 'You haven't been possessed by a demon again have you?'

Jaime laughed nervously, 'No I'm checking ID every time I see Eve now,' she said, 'I definitely learnt that lesson.'

'Glad to hear it.'

'I was wondering if we could maybe move our meeting forward half an hour? It's just I've been asked to do a show tomorrow and the plane's leaving tonight.'

'Sure, that's fine. See you soon then.'

'Elena is everything all right? You seem a bit distracted, and so did Jeremy when he picked up the phone. What's happening?'

Damn that woman and her insights; she may not appear to be the brightest spark but Jaime's actually quite clever underneath the illusion. When she's not tongue tied around Jeremy, or inhabited by a homicidal demon that is.

'I'll explain later, Jaime,' I promised before saying a quick goodbye and hanging up the phone.

_A/N: Ok so I know it's short but I thought I'd better post something soon. My laptop broke and it took ages to get a replacement and to get all the information off my old hard drive, so that's why it's taken me ages to update. I'm REALLY sorry._

_I hope you like this chapter though, please review and let me know what you think. Thank you to everyone whose read this story so far, and a BIG thank you to everyone whose reviewed._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


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